The consul general of Morocco in Oran, at the origin of a diplomatic crisis between Algiers and Rabat, has left Algeria, confirmed on Tuesday the spokesman for the Algerian presidency, qualifying the diplomat as a Moroccan intelligence agent, accusations which aroused the "dismay" of Rabat. "The Moroccan consul has indeed left the national territory at the request of Algeria," said spokesman Mohand Oussaïd Belaïd at a press conference, saying that "his attitude has exceeded all limits. of convenience ” . "The attitude (...) was not surprising because he is a Moroccan intelligence officer , " accused the spokesman for the Algerian presidency.
"Morocco expresses its dismay at these allegations" and "rejects these ridiculous and baseless assertions , " Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told the Moroccan news agency on Tuesday. "The recall of the Consul was decided on the exclusive initiative of Morocco" , which " has always opted for appeasement in its relations with Algeria," added the head of Moroccan diplomacy.
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According to TSA, the French-language news site Tout Sur L'Alérie, the Moroccan consul in Oran (north-west) returned to his country last Thursday aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight that repatriated Moroccan nationals stranded in Algeria . A video massively shared in May showed a man presented as the Moroccan consul in Oran talking to compatriots who protested the difficulties of returning to their country, due to the border closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The diplomat tried to explain the obstacles encountered, and we heard him conclude distinctly: "We are in an enemy country, I tell you frankly" .
On May 13, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sabri Boukadoum summoned the Moroccan ambassador to Algeria to inform him of the protests in Algiers. Algiers also called on "the Moroccan authorities to take appropriate measures to avoid any repercussions of this incident on bilateral relations" . But according to the spokesman for the Algerian presidency, the incident is closed and the page "now turned" . The main dispute between the two neighboring countries concerns the status of Western Sahara which has opposed Morocco for decades against the independence of the Polisario Front supported by Algeria.
